Remission, prediction and stability of symptoms in schizophrenia: A naturalistic 12-month follow-up study.

Abstract Objective. Since its introduction in 2005, schizophrenia remission consensus criteria have been used in several prospective and cross-sectional studies. The aim of this prospective assessment of patients with schizophrenia was to employ the remission criteria in a naturalistic study design. Methods. One hundred and six patients with schizophrenia (ICD10 F 20.x) were enrolled into the study during inpatient treatment. Remission criteria with respect to changes in psychopathology ratings were obtained by trained interviewers at discharge and at 12-month follow-up using BPRS. Furthermore, information on social functioning and treatment-related quality of life were assessed using GAF (Global Assessment of Functioning) and SWN-K (Subjective Wellbeing under Neuroleptic Treatment Scale). Results. A total of 13.2% of the patients were found to meet remission criteria during follow-up. While there was no significant change in the mean BPRS scores, 14.2% of the subjects showed significant worsening and 29.2% significant improvement of their psychotic symptoms. Subsequent logistic regression analysis, explaining approximately 32% of symptomatic remission variance, indicated a significant influence of BPRS-Overall-Score and independent living at discharge. Conclusions. The results of this naturalistic study indicate that only a minority of former inpatients with schizophrenia achieve remission after 1 year and relevant subgroups of patients have significant bi-directional changes in symptoms during follow-up.

[Frequency of remission in schizophrenia patients at one year follow-up]. / Remissionshäufigkeit bei schizophren erkrankten Patienten innerhalb eines Jahres nach der Klinikentlassung.

OBJECTIVE: This paper describes the frequency of remission in former inpatients with schizophrenia as well as its relations with sociodemographic and other relevant variables. METHODS: The characteristics of 88 schizophrenia patients (ICD-10 F20.x) were examined in an extensive quality-monitoring-project at the Ev. Krankenhaus Bethanien Greifswald, Germany, encompassing a one-year follow-up. RESULTS: 10.2 % of the patients reached remission during the 12-months follow-up. The rate of readmissions was 42.1 %. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of remission in our sample is considerably less than the approximated 38 % from previous studies. This might be attributed to selection-bias and lack of representation in previous follow-up studies with schizophrenia inpatients.